Happy Labor Day Monday! With an extended weekend this was a good time to catch up on a bunch of comic books from the last week. This week’s comics being spotlighted are going to be Demon Days: Cursed Web #1, Static: Season One #3, and Wonder Girl #3. All three comic books have been delivering high quality reads in their respective first two issues. Will that momentum continue for all three comics? Let’s find out.
And in case you may have missed them, standalone reviews for Batman: Fear State Alpha #1, Captain Marvel #32, Dark Ages #1, and Sinister War #4 are also live on the website.
DEMON DAYS: CURSED WEB #1
Creative Team
Story and Art: Peach Momoko
English Adaptation & Dialogue: Zack Davisson
Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
The Good: Cursed Web #1 continues the pure imagination that is Peach Momoko’s Demon Days Marvel Universe. Every page looks absolutely stunning to look at. The beautiful artwork is backed up by a story around Demon Days’ Mariko Yashida as she becomes even more part of the mythological world around her. Along the way there continues to be a strong mystery around what is driving Mariko as we see the myth built up in Demon Days: X-Men #1.
In addition to the portrayal of Mariko’s character driving the story we also get more development for Black Widow Kuroki and Wolverine. That development leads us to the introduction of Demon Days’ version of Mystique and Sabertooth. Both these characters are presented as strong antagonists that Mariko has to overcome. Their overwhelming strength makes how Mariko is pushed further into Demon Days world get you invested in all of the players involved.
The ending of Demon Days: Cursed Web #1 hit all the right notes with the introduction of Thor and Storm to get you to want to return for more. What makes Thor and Storm’s introduction work so well is how they open things up to possibly introduce other forms of mythology into Demon Days Marvel Universe. With what Momoko has already accomplished with tapping into Japanese mythology it’ll be interesting to see how Thor and Storm being closely connect adds to what has already happened.
The Bad: Nothing.
Overall: Peach Momoko once again knocks it out of the park with Demon Days: Cursed Web #1. Mariko’s development continues to make her an even more interesting character with each passing issue. The introduction of Demon Days version of Mystique, Sabertooth, Thor, and Storm adds to how this is one of the most engrossing reading experiences out in the market from Marvel.
STATIC: SEASON ONE #3
Creative Team
Writer: Vita Ayala
Artist: Nikolas Draper-Ivey and Chriscross
Colorist: Wil Quintana
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
The Good: With each passing issue of Static: Season One Vita Ayala has refined the structure of this series so it does come across as episodic. Static: Season One #3 once again makes improvements with its pacing as we see Virgil Hawkins create his superhero costume. The homages to the original and DCAU’s Static Shock versions of the costume showed a strong understanding of the characters history. It all built to the moment when we got the final version of Virgil’s Static superhero costume hit the exciting note you want it to.
Static: Season One #3 also continues to do a good job with paying attention to the various aspects of Virgil’s personal life. Ayala makes sure that the supporting cast from Virgil’s family to his friends at school are always present. That helps to strengthen the world that Ayala is crafting around Virgil has he takes another big step in his superhero journey. It also makes the rising antagonists for Static keep you wondering how this world will develop as more super powered people are introduced.
Nikolas Draper-Ivey and Chriscross work incredibly well as an art team. Splitting Static: Season One #3 up so they each handle either the first or second half of the issue was a smart choice. This made it so we weren’t constantly changing between art styles. At the same time, both Draper-Ivey and Chriscross are able to replicate each other’s styles so the entire issue maintains a strong consistency.
The Bad: Nothing.
Overall: Static: Season One #3 was the best issue of this young series thus far. Vita Ayala does a great job balancing out Virgil Hawkins superhero journey and how he interacts with his entire supporting cast. All the moments in this issue are further enhanced by the artwork done by Nikolas Draper-Ivey and Chriscross. It all comes together for yet another example of how Static: Season One has quickly become one of DC Comics best titles.
WONDER GIRL #3
Creative Team
Writer: Joelle Jones
Artists: Joelle Jones and Adriana Melo
Colorist: Jordie Belaire
Story Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 6.5 Night Girls out of 10
The Good: When that journey is the focus of Wonder Girl #3 it is at its best. Joelle Jones does a very good job at portraying Yara as someone who wants to learn all about where she comes from. It is part of what makes Yara a character that is so relatable as every place she goes to feels like a new world. The ending with how Hera is brought into the story creates even more questions as to what the endgame of Yara’s current journey is as she has yet to become Wonder Girl.
Almost overshadowing Yara’s journey is Cassie Sandsmark and Artemis growing roles in this series. Jones gives both characters much more time to develop their sides of the story. Considering that we learn more about the Brazilian version of the Amazons from Cassie and Artemis it’ll be interesting how the balance of this story is developed. Because honestly as Wonder Girl #3 came to an end I was more interested in how Cassie and Artemis interactions with the Amazons are going to be in future issues.
Jones artwork is certainly the continued standout for Wonder Girl #3. Adriana Melo does a better job in this issue making adjustments to her style so the Cassie Sandsmark and Artemis scenes look more like Jones artwork. It is not perfect replication but it does get the job done so there is some consistency. The action in this issue particularly looks good.
The Bad: The sudden romance between Yara and João comes across as completely forced. Part of that goes for why their relationship happens. But even with that explanation the pairing of Yara and João does not work. It just looks like it was done so there was romance angle to the series. Which is not needed with so many other interesting things going on with the mystery around Yara’s presence shifting things in the DC Universe.
Because of that romance angle there isn’t a lot of attention to Yara discovering more about her heritage. This love interest story makes it so there isn’t much progress done until Yara leaves to meet up with Hera. Even though that meeting does make things more interesting it takes a little to much time to get Yara to that point.
Overall: Wonder Girl #3 makes steady progress for Yara Flor as she reaches the next point in her adventure. The delays to get to that point do hold this issue back from hitting the same highs of the first two issues. That said, the developments around Cassie Sandsmark and Artemis help lift the overall story so we continue to be invested in the Brazilian Amazons we have been introduced to.
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